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Department News

MCB Professor & HHMI Investigator Eva Nogales has been awarded the 2018 Sandra K. Masur Senior Leadership Award by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). The award recognizes an outstanding scientist with "a record of active leadership in mentoring both men and women in scientific careers," and is one of the ASCB's three Women in Cell Biology awards.

Nogales will be awarded a plaque and a $1,000 prize at the ASCB Annual Meeting in December 2018.

Nicolas C. Pégard, postdoctoral scholar in the Adesnik lab, is one of eleven awardees (chosen from almost 300 applicants) to receive a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface (CASI). The award recognizes scientific excellence and innovation, depth and quality of training, and the potential to establish an independent research career.

The CASI will fund his advanced postdoctoral training at MCB, where he currently works on methods for 3D in vivo holographic optogenetic photostimulation and optical tracking of neural activity, and his transition into a faculty position. Congratulations, Nico!

Congratulations to MCB Professor Jeremy Thorner, the 2019 recipient of ASBMB's Herbert Tabor Research Award! This award recognizes scientists who have made outstanding contributions in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Thorner will receive a $30,000 research award, a plaque, and present a lecture on his research at ASBMB's annual meeting in April 2019 in Orlando, FL.

MCB Professor of the Graudate School Hiroshi Nikaido is the 2018 recipient of the American Society for Microbiology's Lifetime Achievement Award. This award honors scientists who have made sustained contributions to microbiological sciences, of which Nikaido has made many throughout his extensive career.

A new research paper published in Science, from the labs of MCB Professor Robert Tjian and Assistant Professor Xavier Darzacq, reveals surprising new observations on the mechanics of RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) during protein-coding gene transcription.

MCB Assistant Adjunct Professor Karen Davies has been selected as one of the Early Career Research Award recipients by the US Department of Energy for her work on protein structures and bioenergetics. Davies' research focuses on electron flow in photosynthesis, and may improve cyanobacteria engineering for biofuels and bioplastics.

HHMI Investigator and MCB Professor Barbara Meyer was awarded the American Society for Cell Biology's (ASCB) highest honor for science, the E.B. Wilson Medal, for her significant and far-reaching contributions to cell biology over a lifetime in science.

Dr. Meyer's lecture and the medal presentation will take place on Tuesday, December 11th from 3:15-4:00pm during the ASCB|EMBO Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA (Dec 8-12, 2018).

"The University of California announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted patent number 10,000,772 covering the use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing with formats that will be particularly useful in developing human therapeutics and improvements in food security."

Francesca Burgos, postdoctoral scholar in the lab of MCB Professor Carlos Bustamante, is a member of the 2018 class of Pew Latin American Fellows in the Biomedical Sciences. Her research examines the three-dimensional folding patterns of RNA molecules during their synthesis.

MCB & Chemistry Professor Jennifer Doudna is a co-laureate of the 2018 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience for her groundbreaking invention of CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

The Kavli Prize is awarded biennially by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Kavli Foundation and recognizes scientists who have made seminal advancements in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

A new article published in Science, co-authored by MCB Professors Eric Betzig (supervising author) and David Drubin, describes new advancements in microscopy that reveal incredibly detailed images of cell dynamics in their native state as they travel and interact throughout live tissue. These advancements apply adaptive optics to light sheet microscopy to provide remarkably detailed views of the three-dimensional multicellular environment compared to those produced from a traditional glass slide.

Former MCB Professor Mary-Claire King is the 2018 recipient of the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine for mapping the first breast cancer gene. The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine is awarded to those in the field of biomedical sciences whose discoveries "have led to significant victories in our longstanding war against illness and suffering."

King is currently a Professor of Genome Sciences and Medical Genetics at the University of Washington. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 1973.

New research from the lab of MCB Professor & HHMI Investigator Eva Nogales has advanced our understanding of the tau protein, which is crucial in the development of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

The team used cryo-electron microscopy to determine how the tau protein interacts with the microtubules of neurons. Under normal conditions, this interaction helps stabilize the cytoskeleton of neurons and prevent abnormal Alzheimer's-causing protein tangles.